(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is opening its cold case files in hopes of closing some of them for good. On Sept. 21, 2003, Leonardo Valdez Perez was shot and killed at his apartment on Yuma Street and his alleged killer is still on the run.

It was a Sunday night, around 11 p.m., when 25-year-old Leonardo Valdez Perez got a knock on his door.

“The Colorado Springs Police Department was notified of an individual that was found lying outside the doorway of his residence,” said Sgt. Marcus Lehmkuhl. “Officers responded to that location and found a deceased male who had an apparent gunshot wound to his face.”

According to Fernando Perez, Leonardo’s brother, Leo was ambushed. “It’s stupid why and how this happened,” said Fernando.

Leo had only lived in Colorado Springs for a few months when he was killed and Fernando said his brother was well-liked by his neighbors.

“He just had the charisma. My brother was the kind of kid that was liked by everyone,” he said.

One of those neighbors was a girl named Krystal. Leo told Fernando, she had a jealous boyfriend. “He’s like brother, this guy started hitting her over me,” Fernando said.

Fernando said Leo told him Krystal’s boyfriend got upset one day that he and Krystal were walking together to the liquor store. Fernando said he told his brother to be careful and watch his back. Three days later his brother would be dead.

“This guy came in with the gun just aimed at him and I guess when he fell, this guy just left,” said Fernando. “He didn’t rob him, he didn’t ransack the house.”

“During the investigation, we believe we’ve identified the motive and the individual responsible,” said Lehmkuhl. CSPD wouldn’t discuss the details due to a court order but Lehmkuhl said they do believe Agustine Montano, who also went by the nicknames “L’il Psycho” and “Memo,” is responsible for Leo’s death.

“This was not a random incident,” said Lehmkuhl.

FOX21 News pulled Montano’s arrest affidavit and Krystal is mentioned in the documents, but according to those interviewed during the investigation, Krystal and Leo were more than just friends for a short time but then their relationship soured and Krystal went back to Montano.

According to the documents, Krystal broke down during an interview with investigators and admitted she was there the night Montano pulled the trigger. She said she and Montano got into a fight over Leo, and they along with two other unknown Hispanic males, drove over to Leo’s apartment where she then saw Montano shoot Leo in the face.

“This guy pulled the trigger on purpose,” said Fernando. “He went there for a purpose to kill my brother and that’s what it was.”

Because Montano was only 17 years old at the time, CSPD did not initially release his name, a move Fernando says was a mistake. “I mean you’re not acting like a minor. You have a rap sheet,” said Fernando.

Three months would pass before Montano’s identity would be released.

“So this guy had plenty of time to hide, relocate, change names, grow his hair, whatever,” said Fernando. “Punk has been hiding ever since.”

“Over the years we’ve attempted to locate him and we just have not,” said Lehmkuhl. “So at this point in time we really don’t know where he’s at. He could be anywhere in the U.S. or maybe even another country.”

“My dad had a couple of family members in Mexico that were cops at the time and they both said, give me the info and we can look for him out here, but we couldn’t,” said Fernando.

“It’s difficult,” said Lehmkuhl. “It’s not an easy thing talking to the family members and trying to reassure them that we’re doing something.”

According to the arrest affidavit, Krystal told police two days after the shooting she and Montano were driven to California by an unknown Mexican male. Three weeks later, Krystal returned home on a bus and said their relationship was over.

Fernando believes police wrote off his brother’s death early on as a gang shooting because of Leo’s tattoos and didn’t fully investigate what happened.

“They’re probably not going to like to hear it, but you know that’s how we feel,” said Fernando. “It wasn’t about turf, it wasn’t about he’s wearing red, I’m wearing blue, it wasn’t about that.”

Fernando said his brother wasn’t in a gang. “Nowadays everybody has tattoos, that doesn’t make you a criminal,” he said. “I wish the police department would have taken more pride in their job instead of just judging someone by their looks.”

Lehmkuhl said he knows Leo’s family has been waiting a long time for justice.

“They lost a loved one and that’s what you just have to keep reminding yourself of,” he said. “And we’re trying to do the best we can for them so they have some sort of closure. We can never make it right but we can at least help them with that.”

Fernando said finding Montano would mean closure for him and his family. “This individual caused so much damage that I just want to know he’s behind bars for the rest of his life,” said Fernando.

He believes somebody knows where Montano is. “Do I want revenge? No, I just want this guy to pay for his crime. That’s it,” said Fernando.

At the time Montano was described as 5’5″ tall, about 120 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Today he would be 37 years old.

“A lot of times people don’t want to get involved and I get it,” said Fernando. “But how would you feel if it happened to you and I knew and I didn’t say anything?”

“Even with technology advances and time going by and whatnot, it still takes individuals to solve these cases,” said Lehmkuhl.

There is currently a warrant out for Montano’s arrest for murder.

“We don’t live in a third-world country, so it shouldn’t be like you kill me, I’m going to kill you. This man did something. He’s gotta pay for it,” said Fernando. “He’s got to be held accountable for what he did.”

Leo was a father of two and at the time of his death his daughter was nine and his son was seven. Fernando said they too would like to see their father’s killer arrested.

Lehmkuhl said Montano could still have ties to Colorado Springs.

“I would really love you to come forward,” said Lehmkuhl. “You can stay anonymous. You can tell us who you are. Whatever information there is, we would love to have.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact CSPD at (719) 444-7000. Tips can also be made anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (719) 634-STOP.